Chapter 117: A Strike of Forbidden Technique

While compressing his power, Camus used telepathy to transmit to the two men behind him, "You are not familiar with this technique; relax your minds and follow my lead."

"Yes!"
"Understood!"

Rigel and Daidalos responded in succession, following Camus's guidance to adjust their Cosmo.

A second, two seconds, perhaps three passed. Amidst their tense and anxious adjustments, the Cosmo of the three men intertwined and resonated, instantly forming a state of extraordinary harmony. A trace of joy emerged in everyone’s heart. They had succeeded!

Camus suppressed the excitement in his heart and guided their combined power, preparing to release it.

"Athena Exclamation!"

In an instant, the phantom of a colossal Athena statue appeared behind them. Under Camus’s guidance, the Cosmo compressed in their palms converged into a single point, shooting toward the pitch-black beam of light.

"Don't even think about it!"

Sensing the immense power of that strike, Tezcatlipoca grew frantic. That blow was more than enough to destroy her 'Gate of Space-Time.' To protect the gate, she could no longer afford to hold back; she immediately abandoned her resistance to the suction of the Underworld rift and converted all her power into an offensive, attempting to thwart the trio's combined attack.

She was so close; the Gate of Space-Time was nearly stabilized. As for this avatar, she could afford to discard it; once the gate was secure, her true form could descend into this world.

"Death Claws!"

To prevent Deathmask from interfering, she even split her power in two, launching an attack at Deathmask and the trio of Camus respectively.

Whoosh!

The Underworld rift howled with sinister winds, swallowing the goddess in her jaguar-skin attire the moment she ceased resisting the gravitational pull. Only ten brilliant, razor-sharp arcs of light remained, splitting into two groups and streaking toward Deathmask and the energy blast unleashed by Camus’s trio.

"Praesepe! Demonic Blue Flame!"

Seeing the enemy split her attack, Deathmask had no time to provide support and could only resolve the crisis before him first. Instantly, a mass of pale blue flame ignited in his palm, which he hurled directly at the five incoming arcs of light.

Boom!

The moment the sharp arcs collided with the fireball, a violent explosion erupted. However, this time, Tezcatlipoca had poured her full strength into the attack; even split in two, it was not something Deathmask could withstand. The sharp arcs pierced through the flames and struck Deathmask directly.

"Argh—!"

With a scream, five deep, bone-exposed wounds appeared on his body, and he was sent flying by the tremendous force.

Simultaneously, the other five sharp arcs struck the 'Athena Exclamation' fired by Camus’s group. This was a result Tezcatlipoca had calculated before acting. Her previous encounter showed her that the trio’s Cosmo was intertwined, forming a trinity-style defensive formation even while attacking. Any strike against them would have its power distributed equally among the three. She could not guarantee that, after being weakened by their trinity formation, her attack would instantly kill them or fully interrupt their offensive. Therefore, she had locked her target onto the attack they released from the very beginning.

The Gate of Space-Time would be stable in a moment. If she could only neutralize their attack and stall for a few more seconds, everything would be over.

Boom!

Tezcatlipoca's five sharp arcs collided with the trio's 'Athena Exclamation,' triggering terrifying fluctuations. She was a deity of the supreme rank, after all. Even though this was merely an avatar far weaker than her true form, her claw strike, fueled by over half of her power, faintly suppressed the 'Athena Exclamation.'

Seeing this, Camus encouraged his companions, "Do not lose heart! She has already been sucked into the Underworld rift; the attack she left behind has no follow-up power."

"We only need to hold on a little longer to completely exhaust its energy and destroy the 'Channel of the Gods' behind it!"

"Right!"
"Understood!"

Rigel and Daidalos responded, intensifying their output of Cosmo, swearing to withstand the five arcs and destroy the 'Channel of the Gods.'

Rumble!

Under the relentless output of the three, the disadvantage of the 'Athena Exclamation' being suppressed by the five arcs gradually vanished, and they began to push back.

Just as Camus had said, Tezcatlipoca's 'Death Claws' were indeed unstoppable, but with Tezcatlipoca herself dragged into the Underworld, the 'Death Claws' lacked sustained power. With every passing moment, they grew weaker in the clash, losing their initial advantage. After a brief stalemate, the trio gathered their strength for one final surge, suddenly increasing their Cosmo output. The 'Athena Exclamation,' concentrated at a single point, instantly shattered the five arcs of the 'Death Claws' and struck the pyramid directly.

Bang!

The entire pyramid, nearly three hundred meters tall, was pierced by the concentrated attack and subsequently disintegrated. The pitch-black pillar of light, which had been on the verge of stabilization, abruptly vanished. The Channel of the Gods had been destroyed.

Normally, the 'Athena Exclamation' was a technique that concentrated the power of three into one point to create ultimate destructive force, and it would not typically cause such wide-area destruction. However, much like a bullet penetrating flesh, where the impact causes the surrounding muscle to rupture, the 'Athena Exclamation' produced a similar effect. While this effect was negligible compared to the ultimate focused destruction, the pyramid was extremely fragile—aside from the stored Cosmo that could neutralize some of the attack, its stone structure could not withstand even the 'negligible' shockwave. Thus, the moment it was pierced, it shattered.

At the same time, as the dark pillar dissipated, an angry cry echoed from the sky.

"You bastards—!"

Seeing that the Gate of Space-Time had been stabilized, Tezcatlipoca had been preparing to enter. She had barely managed to insert one foot when the gate was destroyed by the three Saints on the ground. To have her efforts fall short at the final hurdle, to have the cooked duck fly away—how could she not be enraged?

Alas, no matter how furious she was beyond the heavens, it was to no avail. Originally, she had an avatar on the ground that could have vented her anger, but due to a moment of carelessness, it had been sent to the Underworld by the Cancer Saint. With the barrier between the two worlds, there was nothing she could do to those on the ground.

More importantly, her avatar was now in deep trouble within the Underworld. A deity clad in black, silver-trimmed God Cloth blocked her path.

"Do you choose to end yourself, or shall I do it for you?" Thanatos, the God of Death, looked coldly at the goddess in the jaguar skin.